QB Patrick Mahomes has declared for the draft and as I suspected the early reports are a 2nd Round grade. Do not be surprised to hear his name mentioned with Miami. Another surprise is Wyoming QB Josh Allen who is supposedly considering the jump after his sophomore season. Chris Kouffman (formerly of Draft Winds) mentioned him a while back and he may have one of the best skill sets for the NFL. He's this year's version of Carson Wentz if he declares.

Michigan TE Jake Butt tore his ACL on Friday night. He is someone I expect Miami to look at and was a borderline late 1st Rounder. Maybe he drops for them now.

Miami will draft anywhere between 21 and 32 this year.

Bowl Season showed some awesome pass rushing talent at DE. Keep an eye on these names for 1st Round consideration - Taco Charlton, Harold Landry, Demarcus Walker, Dawuane Smoot and Solomon Thomas to name a few. While LB is the biggest need I believe Miami is going to go with value so don't rule out a DE (even if they ink Andre Branch to a new contract).

Speaking of LB, Reuben Foster, Zach Cunningham, Jarrad Davis and Ryan Anderson are names to follow for 1st Round consideration. Foster is a long shot because he is considered a top 10 prospect in the draft class but if he's there you need to pull trigger (perfect combo of value plus need).

I will do a 1st Round mock draft for fun after January 16th (deadline for players to declare). Obviously free agency and trades will change things but rumor has it Miami will not be active on other team's players. They seem to content to re-sign their own talent, pick up some under the radar guys and build through the draft.

Miami hosts New England to kick off 2017! 1PM game where Miami is +9.5 with a 44.5 O/U.

Look, neither team is taking their foot off the gas so this has the potential to be a high scoring game. As I noted in another post, New England is 3rd in rushing defense and 15th in passing defense. They are going to try to shut down Jay Ajayi and make Matt Moore beat them.

Miami has won 9 or their last 10, and haven't lost at home since the Tennessee debacle. Adam Gase told his team to zip it on any playoff celebrations and focus on beating New England. The #5 seed is on the line and that path starts with Houston as opposed to Pittsburgh. I'm hoping this team learned a lesson from the Baltimore game when they came in flat after getting a little too cocky.

There is something about Tom Brady heading to Miami and playing below expectations. The defense seems to rattle him. Still, he's having an MVP season and after witnessing what Buffalo did to Miami it wouldn't be surprising to see New England put up record yardage totals. They are going to use Legarrette Blount as a battering ram combined with quick throws over the middle to move the chains and tire out the defense. Ndomakung Suh and Cameron Wake will do everything in their power to get after Brady and my hope is they hit him often. His lack of mobility will help as we saw the pass rush get after guys like Philip Rivers and Carson Palmer. We have to hope Brady misfires a lot. Brady will look to Martellus Bennett on seam routes, Julian Edelman on screens and slants, and for Chris Hogan to sneak behind the secondary for deep routes. Miami's corners have done a nice job against bigger receivers so hopefully they neutralize rookie Malcom Mitchell. With Brady having so many weapons its hard to imagine Miami having a great day on defense.

New England has 34 sacks and 12 interceptions on the year. They've only allowed 6 rushing TDs but I think a lot of that comes from blowing out opponents early and forcing them to pass. Matt Moore will need to be sharp. Against Buffalo he used the crossing routes which allowed Landry and Parker to find running room. The previous week he aired it out when New York dared him to throw deep. The problem with New England is that while they aren't ball hawks they always seem to get a timely interception. Moore has to be careful not to stray into reckless territory.

I expect Ajayi to get a healthy dose of carries and maybe Kenyan Drake will get in the action too. His Marcus Allen style TD against Buffalo has me thinking Gase will dial up a few plays to see if Drake hits another homerun. If the offense can sustain drives and keep the defense fresh then Miami has a decent chance at pulling the big upset.

Last week I went with my heart over my head and received an early Christmas gift. Unfortunately I cannot do the same this week. Miami's defense is just too porous to give me any confidence against Brady and a decent running game. But there is always a silver lining! Perhaps a kick to the guy right before the playoffs fires up the team so much that they come out like wrecking balls in the Wild Card Round! Hey, you know me, I like to try and stay positive.

A belated Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays and a safe, Happy New Year to everyone here!